Page 22 of Shattered

“Where are you taking me on our date?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Camden Park?”

I looked toward the flashing lights of the small amusement park, all decked out for the Halloween season, as we stood next to his car. I’d always wanted to come, but there’d never been any wiggle room in my budget for the added expense. The one and only time Jett begged to come with his friends, I ended up working three double shifts to cover the cost. He noticed and never asked again.

“Is this okay? I figured we were both due for a little fun.”

He studied me, assessing every movement for clues. It was strange to watch this self-assured man, this top-notchFBI agent, flounder over his choice for our date, when in all honesty, it couldn’t have been more perfect.

“It’s better than okay, Koen. This is great.” When I smiled up at him, the tension left his body on a breath as he returned my grin with a dazzling one of his own. “But neither one of us is dressed appropriately.”

His grin turned playful in an instant, setting off a round of butterflies in my stomach.

“Come with me. I have an idea about that.” Across the street was a small secondhand boutique. “If nothing here works, there’s a Walmart down the street. My treat. Get whatever you want. Actually, why don’t you pick something for me too?”

“You trust me to choose an outfit for you?”

“Unless you’re planning on dressing me like an eighty-year-old, then sure. Why not?”

Fifteen minutes later, we were in line at the entrance; me in a pair of leggings and a long-sleeve black T-shirt, and him sporting gray sweatpants paired with a red checkered flannel shirt. Both wearing a pair of new to us, used sneakers.

“Aren’t gray sweats a little cliché?”

“Not at all. You look like a hot lumberjack, Koen.”

“Is that what kind of book you’re editing right now?”

“Maybe.” I smirked.

For the next little while, my problems fell to the wayside. We strolled through the park, fingers intertwined, talking about nothing yet everything all at once. He proved to be an expert dart thrower at the balloon pop game, where he won me an oversized stuffed giraffe. Then screamed like a little girl when we dropped out of the sky on the roller coaster. I laughed so hard; my sides ached. It was, by far, the best night I could remember and I never wanted it to end.

When my stomach grumbled loudly, he grabbed a mixture of treats for us to munch on, ranging from fried dough smothered in chocolate sauce to boardwalk fries, and steered us toward a picnic bench beneath a copse of trees.

“Jesus, Koen. Could you have gotten us something a little more nutritious?”

“What? You can’t eat healthy food at an amusement park. It’s sacrilegious.”

“This…” I held up a piece of the delicious dough before popping it in my mouth. “is going straight to my ass.”

“It’s a great ass.” He winked, pivoting the mood from lighthearted to sweltering in an instant.

“Thanks.” I tried to duck my head, but his fingers on my chin stopped the descent.

“You’ve got a bit of chocolate right here.”

Before I could ask where, he licked the corner of my mouth. I shivered at the contact.

“And here.” He did the same to the other side. Then his mouth devoured mine in a kiss much too indecent for public consumption, but there was no way in hell I was stopping him.

“You’re dangerous, Husband,” I breathed against his lips.

“Never to you, Wife.”

5ADORATION STATION

Koen

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